FAVOURITE ANTOINE MONTANT WINS ...

... world's first Speedriding Big Mountain competition on the Arlberg. Antoine Montant of France was crowned the first ever Red Bull Speedride champion, ahead of Mathias Roten (SUI) and Francois Bon (FRA), after completing two stunning runs on the Kreuzjochspitze Mountain in St. Anton am Arlberg in Austria on Wednesday, January 23rd.

The top three had been chosen to compete in a superfinal after a qualification process held two days earlier which had seen 16 speedriders from six nations battle it out on Arlberg’s Mattun mountain. The pilots themselves had made the selection at a public judging event on Tuesday evening by means of a video analysis.

Riders were judged by nine other athletes according to their chosen line down the ultra-steep and rocky Kreuzjochspitze, which is only accessible by helicopter, and also by their Touch and Go creativity.

Heavy snowfall on Tuesday night coupled with brilliant blue skies on Wednesday set the scene for a mighty showdown between the trio. Montant’s runs were awesome technical displays as he deftly swooped through pockets of powder snow and sprung off huge lumps of ice to launch back into the air, soaring just a few metres over craggy rock faces. “When we were flying to the start today I was trying to find the perfect line for me,” Montant said. “It makes me really happy that I finally managed to win.”

Montant scored a total of 686.5 points ahead of second placed Mathias Roten with 647.9 points. Roten, a 28-year-old test pilot, movie producer and kite-surf instructor from the Swiss town of Hünibach, used natural ridges in the snow to take off and turn his glider stylishly down the mountain. “I am absolutely delighted with my result,” he said.

Former skiing instructor Francois Bon (FRA), who scored 609.1 points, was also happy with his result. “To be one of the athletes in the helicopter at the superfinal was already like the 1st place for me.” he said, “and I am proud to have finished on the podium.”

A prize presentation with the three winners, Montant, Roten and Bon will be made at the ISPO winter sports trade fair in Munich on Monday, January 28th, on the Brand New Stage.

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